First, I would like to wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2022! There is a point at which we need to fill ourselves with optimism, regardless of what is happening around us.

Happy New Year!

I believe that many of us, and probably all of us, are thinking that the year 2022 has to be better than 2021, which, in some ways, was just as bad as 2020 for a great number of us.

French custom dictates that New Year’s wishes can be expressed until the end of January, so I have managed it a few hours before the deadline.

Sad Lisa
She hangs her head and cries on my shirt
She must be hurt very badly
Tell me what’s making you sad, Li? 
Open your door, don’t hide in the dark
You’re lost in the dark, you can trust me
’Cause you know that’s how it must be
Lisa Lisa, sad Lisa Lisa
Her eyes like windows, trickle in rain
Upon the pain getting deeper
Though my love wants to relieve her
She walks alone from wall to wall
Lost in her hall, she can’t hear me
Though I know she likes to be near me
Lisa Lisa, sad Lisa Lisa
She sits in a corner by the door
There must be more I can tell her
If she really wants me to help her
I’ll do what I can to show her the way
And maybe one day I will free her
Though I know no one can see her
Lisa Lisa, sad Lisa Lis

Tea for the Tillerman was the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens (Yusuf), released in November 1970. “Sad Lisa” was the fourth song on side 1.

For days I searched for a title, not knowing what angle of life I wanted to share. These days, life feels like a roller coaster. Bad news keeps coming after good, and this is happening too often for a lot of people and destabilizing many. I increasingly hear about people who have been deeply disturbed by nearly two years of a never-ending pandemic that has changed everybody’s daily life. A great many have been hit hard and are really struggling to hang in there. Some have lost jobs, others have lost self-confidence, and some have sought psychiatric help. Many are going through what the lyrics of this song describe. Professionally and personally I know people who have been greatly affected.

So yes, we can be optimistic that the end of the pandemic, the end of several crises, will occur this year. We need to be optimistic to be at our best against adversity, and some of us can manage to do this. But let’s not forget the ones who have a hard time getting through the day and who need tiny rays of sunshine in their eyes.

REINSTATING JOSEPHINE BAKER’S AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP 
It is commonly noted that French troops fought on the American side during the War of Independence and that American troops helped liberate France during WWII. This illustrates the strong bond between the two countries. Many American towns and landmarks are named after the commanders of the French troops in the War of Independence, “Lafayette and Rochambeau.” These names are familiar to many but I am not sure everybody knows who they were and why streets and towns are named after them.

Wikipedia
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, commanding American troops in several battles, including the siege of Yorktown. After returning to France, he was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. He has been considered a national hero in both countries.

Wikipedia
Marshal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau (1 July 1725 – 10 May 1807) was a French nobleman and general whose army played the decisive role in helping the United States defeat the British army at Yorktown in 1781 during the American Revolution. He was commander-in-chief of the French Expeditionary Force sent by France to help the American Continental Army fight against British forces.

Interestingly, in my day little time was devoted to them in French schools. I learned a lot more about how decisive their actions were once I lived in the USA.

I started to think about all this when Josephine Baker were inducted into the Panthéon on Tuesday, November 30th. Only a few exceptional French people get this honor. In a way, the monuments in Washington, DC named after American presidents serve a similar purpose. Hence it is interesting that this American-born French citizen, remarkable in so many ways, is so little known in the USA.

Wikipedia
Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald, naturalized French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French entertainer, French Resistance agent and civil rights activist. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted France. She was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant.

During her early career, Baker was among the most celebrated performers to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris. Her performance in the revue Un vent de folie in 1927 caused a sensation in the city. Her costume, consisting of only a short skirt of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became an iconic image and a symbol both of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties. …

She aided the French Resistance during World War II. After the war, she was awarded the Resistance Medal by the French Committee of National Liberation, the Croix de Guerre by the French military, and was named a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur by General Charles de Gaulle. Baker sang: “I have two loves, my country, and Paris.”

Some American groups in Paris have expressed interest in having Baker’s American citizenship reinstated; she lost it when she married a Frenchman. Such a move would make sense: The USA would recognize that this French heroine born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906 and who moved to France as a young adult, also had a significant impact on strengthening the ties between the two countries. Sadly, it would also be about the Jim Crow era at the time, when she had to move to France to be able to have a career as a performer.

The metro stop Gaîté was renamed after her at the time of the Panthéon ceremony. There are streets, a swimming pool and other places named after her throughout France.

There will be those who think that Baker, after leaving the USA at the young age of 18 and spending her life and career in France, did not retain enough ties with the USA to be recognized this way. But I find it interesting that on February 6th, 2016, a transport station named for Rosa Parks was inaugurated, even though the civil rights activist never came to France or had any interaction with Paris.

Until 2011, the station was to be called Évangile, after the rue de l’Évangile and the wayside cross from which the street takes its name. The name Rosa Parks was first given to the nearby tram station in 2012. “We wanted at least 50% female names. There was a lot of debate, in particular with the RATP, which favors existing place names, but for Rosa Parks, there was a consensus: this is a must for a tram stop, it is a strong symbol,” recalled Annick Lepetit, Mayor Bertrand Delanoë’s deputy in charge of transport. People living in the nearby Curial-Cambrai social housing project were asked to vote on a list of ten names; their top choice was Bernard Tétu, a local doctor who died in 2003. But Rosa Parks ran a close second. “We then had the idea of changing the Évangile name to that of Rosa Parks, which gained a consensus and made sense,” said a spokesperson for François Dagnaud, mayor of the 19th arrondissement. The Syndicat des Transports d’Île-de-France, now called Île-de-France Mobilités, agreed. The name caught on and was also given to the Rosa-Parks/Macdonald neighborhood council and a community center opened in 2016.

I find all these juxtapositions interesting. I believe the Franco-American friendship still exists and can be seen in multiple ways.

ETHNIC NEIGHBORHOODS IN CITIES AND INTEGRATION
A reader recently wrote to me:
“Dear Jean, your newsletter was excellent. This quote stuck in my mind. I like your word “fascinate”, which could be written ‘I don’t understand how’” Americans can live in a foreign country, learn computer skills (to renew their Carte de Séjour Temporaire) yet not speak or try to speak French. It is beyond me and makes Americans look (in my book) not so good. I am here to experience France, to learn to communicate and to speak French. When I lived in NYC, Puerto Ricans (a very close-knit people) would live in NYC for 40 years and still not bother to try to speak English. I know this, not only by living in NYC but also from teaching English in Puerto Rico. Stubborn and scared. A great letter! Thank you.”

I professionally help foreigners with their French immigration issues. After all these years, I am familiar with the numerous reasons why foreigners settle in France. It can be a short-term assignment by an employer, which gives little motivation to do the hard work of getting deeply acquainted with the French lifestyle and culture. As I was an immigrant when I lived in the USA, I understand the trials, tribulations and hardships one goes through when starting a completely new life in another country. This reader talks about a different issue, which I would like to address.

I rode Greyhound buses across the entire country, starting in New York and going to Los Angeles CA, Spokane WA, Cheyenne WY, Birmingham AL, Indianapolis IN, Montpelier VT and back to New York before I lived for a few years in the USA. For historical reasons, ethnic neighborhoods are often found in large cities. I had a heartbreaking experience walking for an entire day, pretty much from dawn to dusk, all over southern Chicago in the summer of 1981. The walk took me through block after block of rundown African-American neighborhoods but also through Chinese and Italian areas, as was to be expected, as well as Spanish, Greek, Irish, Polish and Russian enclaves. The last was the one that surprised me the most, with signs written in Cyrillic. I could visualize the different waves of immigration coming to the USA. In those days being part of such a community helped with getting a place to live, a job, starting a new life. This was imperative; it was a matter of survival. With some imagination, after seeing pictures and stories of immigrants just off the boats at Ellis Island, I could visualize their lives decades ago, living and working in a new land.

France never used to have anything like this long tradition of ethnic neighborhoods. It was said, and for centuries it was true, that French cities, especially Paris, had neighborhoods defined by profession. One of the best known is the rue du Faubourg Saint Antoine, where artisans specialized in woodworking and producing furniture opened shops. That is why French people always used to say that ethnic neighborhoods could not and did not exist in France, until the evidence of such areas became glaringly visible. The first one started in the early 20th century, just north of the metro station Barbès, located in Paris’s 18th arrondissement. The adjoining neighborhood is now world famous for its North African identity. Algerians were the first to move there in the 1920s, on and around the rue de la Goutte d´Or, which is a couple of streets north of the Boulevard de la Chapelle. Gentrification has greatly diminished their presence.

There are two Chinatowns in Paris. The older one, in the 13th, was located historically between Porte de Choisy, Porte d’Ivry and Place d’Italie. It was begun by Vietnamese boat people who fled to their former colonial power, France, after the Vietnam War ended in 1975. Such migration peaked in 1978-79 but was still going on in the early 1990s.

It is difficult to determine whether the existence of concentrations of immigrants helps or deters their acceptance into the general population. In the USA, integration came about haphazardly in the work place, while France focused on encouraging assimilation through the education of schoolchildren, although both countries used both methods.

In France and the USA alike, as in many other countries, if surviving as an immigrant who has arrived with nothing necessitates staying in the ethnic community, nevertheless this strong connection with the other immigrants from the home country can considerably delay integration into the general population, especially because it makes it so difficult to learn the new language. My initial comment was never meant to describe such immigrants.

Furthermore – and to a certain extent I will contradict myself from one issue to the next – while all immigrants have a story, they do not always tell it fully. When they are sent by their employer, they leave their country for that reason. Another reason may be a romantic partner waiting for them. Or they may be leaving behind a traumatic life: perhaps in the USA they lived through a traumatic divorce or the death of a parent or other loved one. Does it really matter what made them come to France? Some manage to rebound as they create a new life. Some carry hidden emotional scars and do their best to get by and adapt to this new world.

I admit that the statement I made in the December issue might seem harsh and insensitive when seen from that angle. I was talking about how not speaking some French is a severe handicap for people living in France. It often has a compounding effect, not only making it harder on them and thus creating cultural misunderstandings, it also leads them to do the wrong things. But this is the life some have chosen, and the best thing is to be there, walking along with them. This is the part of their life that is deeply buried. We never know their entire story, even if we get a glimpse of what brought them to France. I feel privileged that several have confided in me.

BANKING IN FRANCE 
Another reader has this to say:
“I was interested to read that article in the Q&A section of your newsletter from the person who had a bank account closed. You hooked me up with Barclay’s in 2005, which later became Barclay’s France, then Milleis. I also got the 60-day closure of the account letter.

The entire process was a three-month disaster. They blocked my account and CB and would not return my calls.

Fortunately, I was able to open a new account at BNP Paribas and all is OK now I have gotten my balance back from Milleis.

It took two months from the first visit to receive a checkbook and a CB from BNP – they said the delay was because I was American.

All of my direct debits (SFR, EdF, Orange, AmEx, etc.) were rejected, and since I had no approved account from BNP I was making transfers from my US bank and paying extra fees. The long nightmare is now over.”

I understand and respect your initial reflex, starting with disbelief that the decision is final and therefore thinking some explanation to the bank will fix the problem. It is quite common for banks to give no warning signals that the client can pick up. The exchange with the bank often drags on for days or even weeks before the client realizes the decision is definitive. Since the client does not know the reason for the decision, they are destabilized, which often further delays looking for another bank. Opening an account takes a long time, so in such situations there is a long wait between the closure of the old account and the moment the new one becomes fully operational. This reader’s experience underlines my advice: Do not wait or argue. It is essential to realize the bank’s decision is final. Contact other banks as soon as possible and get a new account opened without delaying. This may make it possible to have a smoother transition and avoid cancellation of services such as cell phone and internet because monthly payments are not wired when due, as this reader testified. There may also be fees or fines linked to the lack of payment.

AMERICAN NOTARIZATION IN FRANCE 
For a long time, the only way to get documents notarized by an American notary public was to go to those working at the US consulates in France. The one in Paris is expensive at $50 per notarization, and sometimes the schedule is such that the first available appointment is weeks away, while the need that expats have is often urgent. Lately, however, online notarization services have appeared, making the task much easier.

A French notaire is a completely different professional from a notary public, but some of them accept to notarize documents. The problem is that, increasingly, American entities asking for notarization do not recognize the French process of notarizing documents, even when they are in English.

Here is the website of one of the many online notary services: www.notarize.com.

THE LATEST ON FRENCH HEALTH REGULATIONS: FROM PASS SANITAIRE TO PASS VACCINAL 
I should have learned by now not to write about this. The policies stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic change from one week to the next. It takes me a long time to draft this column: I often start as much as three weeks before it is published. When I was writing this, the French Parliament was discussing whether apass vaccinal should replace the pass sanitaire (the answer was yes, in the end). The key difference is that under the new policy only fully vaccinated people (who may be required to have booster shots, depending on the dates of their prior inoculations) and the recently COVID-recovered are allowed access to a variety of public places.

CREATION OF SÉCURITÉ SOCIALE, THE FRENCH SOCIAL SAFETY NET 
All European countries have some form of universal public health care covering their nationals and foreigners. In light of the debates, discussions and talk shows broadcast in the USA and France, I believe it might be useful to talk about how France came by its system of universal health coverage, retirement and robust, far-reaching family subsidies.

France came out of World War II with Charles de Gaulle at the head of the two distinct factions who had fought the German occupation: the Communists and the Gaullists. De Gaulle put the country back on its feet. He named members of his own party as well as members of the Communist Party to his cabinet. In those days, the French Communist Party followed the Soviet Communist Party line. Thus in April 1946, the minister of Labor and Social Security, a communist named Ambroise Croizat, introduced his plan for a humanist utopia, which he called social security. As described in the program of the National Council of Resistance, it had three divisions, which still exist:Assurance maladie is the health coverage, Assurance vieillesse is retirement and the Caisse d’Allocations Familiales provides subsidies for families and the poor.

That was 76 years ago. French people are notorious for criticizing everything in France, and it is true that some aspects of the French social safety net are indeed inadequate for the 21st century. But the fact is, none of these programs has collapsed, and the local Caisses Primaires d’Assurance Maladie (CPAM) are handling a very challenging pandemic. I talked earlier about naming public places; it is important to note that many cities have named some streets, etc. after Ambroise Croizat. In Paris, Place Ambroise-Croizat is in the 14th arrondissement.

To learn more:
www.franceculture.fr/histoire/a-lorigine-de-la-securite-sociale .

MY BUSINESS HAS A NEW FACEBOOK PAGE
Over the holidays, my assistant, Sarah, took an interesting initiative and created a new Facebook page. It is a good move for her since she and I both moderate it. She can show off her expertise and her ability to give good advice and clearly explain solutions. She does this in French, leaving the queries in English to me.

Since I am already active in a few Facebook groups and my website is my main showcase, I did not feel I needed such a page. On the other hand, it will no doubt benefit her. I do not have the time to monitor this forum and so far, it has been fairly quiet. Sarah is still figuring out how to handle this new task, being quite busy herself. I am sure it will be a great space for exchanges and hope it will pick up soon.

You are welcome to join:
https://www.facebook.com/rattachement

Best regards,

QUESTION

PICKING UP THE CARTE DE SEJOUR AT THE PARIS PREFECTURE

My carte de séjour is waiting for me at the prefecture in Paris but I am unable to make an appointment to pick it up. I am currently in the USA and cannot access the site. I will be back in late March and will be able to go at any time of any day to pick it up. My récépissé will still be valid. Is it still possible to book an appointment on this site? Thank you for any help you can provide. When I try to access the site from the USA, I get a message saying “Interdit. Service surchargé. Le service que vous avez demandé est actuellement surchargé et/ou il n’y plus de créneaux de rendez-vous disponibles pour le moment. Veuillez réitérer votre demande ultérieurement.”

QUESTION

WHAT IS THE OFII MEDICAL VISIT?

When I had the medical exam at the OFII medical office in November, the exam disclosed some issues that were of concern to the doctor. He told me to have a scan done and he wanted to know if I had some pre-existing respiratory conditions. I had the scan in December which disclosed that the spot was an old scar. However, this scan disclosed an abnormality on an artery. The OFII doctor told me to seek a private doctor and have it scanned, which I did quickly. The doctor performing the scan told me that I did not have an aneurysm, and that the artery was enlarged a little and should be checked periodically. My doctor also set up a test for the middle of March for a routine hospital scanning procedure. This doctor said to have the OFII doctor call him. The OFII doctor tried to call my personal doctor from the office when we returned with the latest medical information. He could not reach him. He then told me that he would not sign off because he was unable to talk to my doctor. We have now made three trips seeking the sign-off and each time a new requirement arises. While we were there, he checked to see how much time my husband and I have before we have to apply to continue our long-stay visa. (We have to apply soon, as our year ends this summer.)
Each time I have returned to his office, there is a new reason for not signing. This provokes questions about this process: If he refuses to sign, do we have to leave when our visa expires? If his sole purpose is to find any contagious diseases and check immunizations, why is this process continuing? or is he seeking to protect France’s medical system from reimbursing the costs of extensive medical treatment? Do I have to have a Carte Vitale to apply to continue our long-stay visa or can we continue to pay my medical expenses ourselves and apply? Can we be forced to return to the U.S. because of my medical issues? Needless to say, this has caused a lot of anxiety for us. We spent three years planning for a permanent move here including living in a hotel for so many months during France’s lockout of visa applications. I would like to anticipate what we can do and put a plan in motion in preparation for a return to the U.S if all this is leading to a visa rejection. Thank you for your time in this matter.

Christmas is around the corner and my office will be open for another two weeks or so before closing for the holidays.

I would like to wish you all the usual season’s greetings. Like last year at the same time, we can hope for a better year in 2022 or fear that worse is coming. Many of us are just tired of the never-ending COVID crisis. Nevertheless, I hope that we all can find a way to set aside such worries and I wish you all

A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Perhaps some of you agree with me that 2021 was harsh and unsettling, at best. With the end of the year near, I was hoping to have a glimpse of light soon. May things improve in 2022.

MEXICO
Owsley and Charlie, twins of the trade
Come to the Poet’s Room
Talking about the problems of the leaf
And yes, it’ll be back soon
There used to be tons of gold and green
Comin’ up here from Mexico
A donde esta la planta, mi amigo, del sol? 
But Mexico is under the thumb
Of a man we call Richard
And he’s come to call himself king
But he’s a small-headed man
And he doesn’t know a thing
About how to deal for you
How to deal for you
There are millions of you now
I mean it’s not as if you were alone
There are brothers everywhere
Just waiting for a toke on that gold
And God knows how far it can go
But thanks Uncle Charlie
For your Mexican smoke
You’re a legend Owsley
For your righteous dope
There were a half a million people on the lawn
And we sang to the faces in the dawn
How long must that damn race
Wait for the jailer’s time to end? 
How long must the Panther race
Wait for the iron bars to bend? 
No no no no no nobody waits.

“Mexico” is a single released in May 1970 by Jefferson Airplane, and written and sung by Grace Slick. I have always been a fan of Jefferson Airplane and have used their songs several times. I chose “Mexico” to illustrate something about a country that sounds and represents something really foreign, very different. When I read the lyrics I was reminded how political this band was and how much they pushed a revolutionary agenda. I am sure people who lived through the ’60s and ’70s will have personal memories associated with this song.

After all these years, I continue to be surprised by the large number of people who hold a carte de séjour and manage to renew it by themselves but continue to call it a visa and consider themselves tourists because the category of the card is visiteur. What does it take to feel like an immigrant? What does it take to realize, in their daily life in France, that this is not Kansas anymore and of course not the USA? Crossing the border with Mexico instantly gives one the feeling of entering a different country, where a different language is spoken. What is it about living in Paris that enables Americans to enjoy this slightly exotic atmosphere without changing much in their life? After 24 years in business, this continues to fascinate me.

RIGHT ON THIS SIDE OF THE BORDER, WRONG ON THE OTHER SIDE
« Vérité en deçà des Pyrénées, erreur au-delà »

Blaise Pascal (19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662)
French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, writer and Catholic theologian.

I got a lot of reactions on the topic of having money put in an escrow type of account to secure the rental of a house or an apartment in France. The information that two readers sent me is so valuable that I am sharing it with you.

It is true that the escrow solution comes with significant costs in all possible ways. I might add that this is not the only situation where a foreigner has to weigh the desire to live in France against the cost and sacrifices needed to be able to stay here. I have yet to meet one expat receiving the full expat package – salary paid in the USA, extra compensation for the cost of living in France – who would be willing to lose more than half their compensation to stay in France with a local labor contract. I hear the same kinds of comments about estate taxes and the social charges on all work compensation affecting employees and the self-employed pretty much alike. We should be rational and accept the entire system as one, and go with the saying “France: love it or leave it.” When I immigrated to the USA as a newlywed it was clear to me that living in the USA meant getting used to everything that comes with living in the USA.

At the same time, I understand where the frustration is coming from, as modern life makes it possible to have the best of both sides for a few years.

This discussion, which is a lot more complex than it appears, always takes me back to the first car trip we made in the USA. We were having dinner on a terrace on the main street of Corning, NY. I was enjoying a beer with the meal. My son was about seven years old and asked to taste the beer. This would have been commonly accepted in a similar setting in France. It was absolutely inconceivable in the USA. I still remember his temper tantrum. He could not understand that in the USA it was illegal. Growing up in France and spending my summer vacations in Denmark also led to situations where I was punished for doing the wrong things there.

Moving to a foreign country and being an immigrant means being torn between the old life and the new. Americans immigrating to France are often able to ease the process by delaying some difficult choices. So I am sharing these readers’ messages and valuable advice here.

OWNING FRENCH MUTUAL FUNDS AS AMERICAN CITIZENS 
1st READER
In your answer about a guarantor for renting, you wrote, “Then you invest this money in a mutual fund account with your bank after discussing and reviewing with your banker the financial products most compatible with your needs.”

The problem is that mutual funds are the worst kind of investment for Americans and should absolutely be avoided. The reason is that almost all are what are called Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFICs) and they consume monstrous time and high costs for an accountant or tax lawyer each year to declare to the IRS. In addition they are taxed heavily.

PFICs are reported using Form 8621, and the IRS estimates the following time requirements for completing that form:
Recordkeeping 16 hr., 58 min. 
Learning about the law or the form 11 hr., 24 min. 
Preparing and sending the form to the IRS 20 hr., 34 min. 
https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8621

I am of course not a tax specialist, but the reason seems to be that with French mutual funds you declare a gain or loss upon its sale, whereas in the US the dividends and capital gains of the components over the course of each year generate a payment to the holder of the fund, on which tax is paid annually. (This is usually reinvested and becomes part of the base cost, so you are not double-taxed when selling.) My understanding is essentially that Form 8621 wants to know what went on inside that fund all year.

2nd READER
Just a small item to point out in this excellent newsletter. … you should be careful recommending European bank products to US citizens, because they cannot buy them without huge US tax implications. The banks try to sell these products all the time, and they do not know US tax law. These products are known as PFICs and have drastic tax consequences to US taxpayers. Also, I believe there are now insurance companies which do this much better, such as https://www.garantme.fr/fr

BTW, the issues involving Americans are getting more and more complex; now that the banks are actually turning their American clients in (FATCA), the challenges have become increasing complicated.

—–

I am fully aware of the complications involved in opening and managing a French bank account, especially if the American citizen holds financial investments, even when these are French mutual funds invested in French instruments.

I explained the consequences of choices made by Americans as they decided to immigrate to France and settle for good. If you want a secure, long-term lease, you need a guarantor. To avoid this they can choose a less secure lease. The new insurance set-up will drastically change the situation. None of my clients has used this policy, so I do not know if the market (agencies and private owners) accepts this kind of insurance products. Also, I do not know how reliable the service is when it is asked to deliver the guaranty purchased from it. Everything is ready for the private sector to come up with the right solution, as there is clearly a valuable service to offer since I am sure neither French rental law nor IRS regulations will change any time soon.

A READER’S EXPERIENCE OBTAINING THE FRENCH HEALTH PASS
Another of my readers writes the following:

I read your periodic emails regularly and appreciate all the information contained in them. I was happy to see the reference in your current commentary on obtaining a passe-sanitaire if you were vaccinated outside France, as I and my wife were in February 2021. This summer, in anticipation of my November-December stay in Paris (I arrived yesterday!) I knew I should get started on mine.

I began the process of obtaining a passe, which documents the conversion of my Center for Disease Control (CDC) Vaccination Record Card into a Certificat Covid Numérique UE with accompanying QR code, on September 1, 2021, by submitting the application online, along with the three PDFs needed for the application (my CDC card, my passport and my airline itinerary). I received my passe and QR code on September 21, after a processing time of 20 days.

Once I was familiar with the process, it was easier to submit my wife’s application on September 23; she received her passe-sanitaire on, I believe, October 21. The processing time had expanded to 28 days by then.

My nieces, visiting us in Paris during the third week of November, submitted their applications on September 26 and I believe they’re still waiting for their passes after 36 days. In other words, the processing time has expanded a lot over the past two months. I advise anyone who is planning a trip to France to apply ASAP for their passe-sanitaire. It was not a particularly difficult application, especially if scanning and PDF usage is within your ken. But the expanding delay concerns me.

And by the way, my passe-sanitaire QR code works perfectly! I used it twice today and no problems. Well done, Ministère des Solidarités et de la Santé!

Christmas is around the corner and my office will be open for another two weeks or so before closing for the holidays.

I would like to wish you all the usual season’s greetings. Like last year at the same time, we can hope for a better year in 2022 or fear that worse is coming. Many of us are just tired of the never-ending COVID crisis. Nevertheless, I hope that we all can find a way to set aside such worries and I wish you all

A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Perhaps some of you agree with me that 2021 was harsh and unsettling, at best. With the end of the year near, I was hoping to have a glimpse of light soon. May things improve in 2022.

MEXICO
Owsley and Charlie, twins of the trade
Come to the Poet’s Room
Talking about the problems of the leaf
And yes, it’ll be back soon
There used to be tons of gold and green
Comin’ up here from Mexico
A donde esta la planta, mi amigo, del sol? 
But Mexico is under the thumb
Of a man we call Richard
And he’s come to call himself king
But he’s a small-headed man
And he doesn’t know a thing
About how to deal for you
How to deal for you
There are millions of you now
I mean it’s not as if you were alone
There are brothers everywhere
Just waiting for a toke on that gold
And God knows how far it can go
But thanks Uncle Charlie
For your Mexican smoke
You’re a legend Owsley
For your righteous dope
There were a half a million people on the lawn
And we sang to the faces in the dawn
How long must that damn race
Wait for the jailer’s time to end? 
How long must the Panther race
Wait for the iron bars to bend? 
No no no no no nobody waits.

“Mexico” is a single released in May 1970 by Jefferson Airplane, and written and sung by Grace Slick. I have always been a fan of Jefferson Airplane and have used their songs several times. I chose “Mexico” to illustrate something about a country that sounds and represents something really foreign, very different. When I read the lyrics I was reminded how political this band was and how much they pushed a revolutionary agenda. I am sure people who lived through the ’60s and ’70s will have personal memories associated with this song.

After all these years, I continue to be surprised by the large number of people who hold a carte de séjour and manage to renew it by themselves but continue to call it a visa and consider themselves tourists because the category of the card is visiteur. What does it take to feel like an immigrant? What does it take to realize, in their daily life in France, that this is not Kansas anymore and of course not the USA? Crossing the border with Mexico instantly gives one the feeling of entering a different country, where a different language is spoken. What is it about living in Paris that enables Americans to enjoy this slightly exotic atmosphere without changing much in their life? After 24 years in business, this continues to fascinate me.

RIGHT ON THIS SIDE OF THE BORDER, WRONG ON THE OTHER SIDE
« Vérité en deçà des Pyrénées, erreur au-delà »

Blaise Pascal (19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662)
French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, writer and Catholic theologian.

I got a lot of reactions on the topic of having money put in an escrow type of account to secure the rental of a house or an apartment in France. The information that two readers sent me is so valuable that I am sharing it with you.

It is true that the escrow solution comes with significant costs in all possible ways. I might add that this is not the only situation where a foreigner has to weigh the desire to live in France against the cost and sacrifices needed to be able to stay here. I have yet to meet one expat receiving the full expat package – salary paid in the USA, extra compensation for the cost of living in France – who would be willing to lose more than half their compensation to stay in France with a local labor contract. I hear the same kinds of comments about estate taxes and the social charges on all work compensation affecting employees and the self-employed pretty much alike. We should be rational and accept the entire system as one, and go with the saying “France: love it or leave it.” When I immigrated to the USA as a newlywed it was clear to me that living in the USA meant getting used to everything that comes with living in the USA.

At the same time, I understand where the frustration is coming from, as modern life makes it possible to have the best of both sides for a few years.

This discussion, which is a lot more complex than it appears, always takes me back to the first car trip we made in the USA. We were having dinner on a terrace on the main street of Corning, NY. I was enjoying a beer with the meal. My son was about seven years old and asked to taste the beer. This would have been commonly accepted in a similar setting in France. It was absolutely inconceivable in the USA. I still remember his temper tantrum. He could not understand that in the USA it was illegal. Growing up in France and spending my summer vacations in Denmark also led to situations where I was punished for doing the wrong things there.

Moving to a foreign country and being an immigrant means being torn between the old life and the new. Americans immigrating to France are often able to ease the process by delaying some difficult choices. So I am sharing these readers’ messages and valuable advice here.

OWNING FRENCH MUTUAL FUNDS AS AMERICAN CITIZENS 
1st READER
In your answer about a guarantor for renting, you wrote, “Then you invest this money in a mutual fund account with your bank after discussing and reviewing with your banker the financial products most compatible with your needs.”

The problem is that mutual funds are the worst kind of investment for Americans and should absolutely be avoided. The reason is that almost all are what are called Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFICs) and they consume monstrous time and high costs for an accountant or tax lawyer each year to declare to the IRS. In addition they are taxed heavily.

PFICs are reported using Form 8621, and the IRS estimates the following time requirements for completing that form:
Recordkeeping 16 hr., 58 min. 
Learning about the law or the form 11 hr., 24 min. 
Preparing and sending the form to the IRS 20 hr., 34 min. 
https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8621

I am of course not a tax specialist, but the reason seems to be that with French mutual funds you declare a gain or loss upon its sale, whereas in the US the dividends and capital gains of the components over the course of each year generate a payment to the holder of the fund, on which tax is paid annually. (This is usually reinvested and becomes part of the base cost, so you are not double-taxed when selling.) My understanding is essentially that Form 8621 wants to know what went on inside that fund all year.

2nd READER
Just a small item to point out in this excellent newsletter. … you should be careful recommending European bank products to US citizens, because they cannot buy them without huge US tax implications. The banks try to sell these products all the time, and they do not know US tax law. These products are known as PFICs and have drastic tax consequences to US taxpayers. Also, I believe there are now insurance companies which do this much better, such as https://www.garantme.fr/fr

BTW, the issues involving Americans are getting more and more complex; now that the banks are actually turning their American clients in (FATCA), the challenges have become increasing complicated.

—–

I am fully aware of the complications involved in opening and managing a French bank account, especially if the American citizen holds financial investments, even when these are French mutual funds invested in French instruments.

I explained the consequences of choices made by Americans as they decided to immigrate to France and settle for good. If you want a secure, long-term lease, you need a guarantor. To avoid this they can choose a less secure lease. The new insurance set-up will drastically change the situation. None of my clients has used this policy, so I do not know if the market (agencies and private owners) accepts this kind of insurance products. Also, I do not know how reliable the service is when it is asked to deliver the guaranty purchased from it. Everything is ready for the private sector to come up with the right solution, as there is clearly a valuable service to offer since I am sure neither French rental law nor IRS regulations will change any time soon.

A READER’S EXPERIENCE OBTAINING THE FRENCH HEALTH PASS
Another of my readers writes the following:

I read your periodic emails regularly and appreciate all the information contained in them. I was happy to see the reference in your current commentary on obtaining a passe-sanitaire if you were vaccinated outside France, as I and my wife were in February 2021. This summer, in anticipation of my November-December stay in Paris (I arrived yesterday!) I knew I should get started on mine.

I began the process of obtaining a passe, which documents the conversion of my Center for Disease Control (CDC) Vaccination Record Card into a Certificat Covid Numérique UE with accompanying QR code, on September 1, 2021, by submitting the application online, along with the three PDFs needed for the application (my CDC card, my passport and my airline itinerary). I received my passe and QR code on September 21, after a processing time of 20 days.

Once I was familiar with the process, it was easier to submit my wife’s application on September 23; she received her passe-sanitaire on, I believe, October 21. The processing time had expanded to 28 days by then.

My nieces, visiting us in Paris during the third week of November, submitted their applications on September 26 and I believe they’re still waiting for their passes after 36 days. In other words, the processing time has expanded a lot over the past two months. I advise anyone who is planning a trip to France to apply ASAP for their passe-sanitaire. It was not a particularly difficult application, especially if scanning and PDF usage is within your ken. But the expanding delay concerns me.

And by the way, my passe-sanitaire QR code works perfectly! I used it twice today and no problems. Well done, Ministère des Solidarités et de la Santé!

THE CARNET OF METRO TICKETS WILL SOON NO LONGER EXIST 
The very first line of the Parisian metro was inaugurated on July 19th 1900, which is also the birthday of the metro ticket. Shortly thereafter, a new job was created: the ticket puncher, or poinçonneur du métro parisien, a man who made a hole in the ticket to allow travelers to get on the metro cars. He sat at the bottom of the stairs and people lined up on the stairs to have their tickets punched.

The most iconic tribute to this profession was the song “Le Poinçonneur des Lilas” by Serge Gainsbourg, released in September 1958.

In October 2021, the RATP began phasing out the classic carnet (book, or actually bunch) of 10 magnetized metro tickets and will eventually almost eliminate these bits of cardboard with the brown strip down the back. They have existed for 121 years of travel between more than 300 metro and RER stations in the Ile-de-France region.

The goal is to stop selling even individual tickets by 2025. In their place are digital alternatives, supposed to be more advantageous and practical, according to the RATP. Here are three things to know about the end of the metro, bus and RER ticket, which was initiated in 2016 and given final approval last April by Ile-de-France Mobilités.

1. Total disappearance of carnets by March 2022
Ile de France Mobilités has decided to make this transition gradually. The ticket machines of 106 small RER and metro stations stopped selling 10-ticket batches in October. It is still possible to buy them at the guichet (ticket office). In January, 176 additional stations will stop carnet sales, whether at the ticket office or via the machines.

By the end of December, carnets and even single named origin-destination tickets will no longer be available at RATP-approved merchants such as tobacconists. And in March 2022, the sale of ticket books will end for good in all metro and RER stations. The single paper ticket, at 1.90€, will continue to be sold at ticket counters. And it will still be possible to validate the individual cardboard “t +” tickets at the entrance to stations until 2025, according to the RATP.

2. One in ten tickets are wasted, on average
Each year, nearly 5 million tickets are demagnetized by proximity to keys or coins, the RATP points out in its effort to steer travelers toward a digital solution. The network estimates that one ticket in ten, on average, ends up not used because lost, damaged or forgotten. The RATP reckons it is more useful to group tickets together in one place on a pass or telephone.

3. Navigo “à la carte” pass and purchase via smartphone
In the spirit of gradual transition, in 2019 the RATP started selling “Navigo à la carte”, a rechargeable pass costing 2€ that allows the purchase of up to 30 entries to the system. Smartphone purchases are also available. These were rolled out initially only on Samsung phones but should now be available on all newer Android phones, with certain services available on iPhones and all of them being extended to newer model smartphones eventually.

Finally, for the bus, users can buy a single ticket for 2€ by SMS. Even with so many digital alternatives, the network still has to convince a lot of RATP users, many of whom still buy one-off cardboard tickets.

MY BUSINESS HAS A NEW FACEBOOK PAGE
Over the holidays, my assistant, Sarah, took an interesting initiative and created a new Facebook page. It is a good move for her since she and I both moderate it. She can show off her expertise and her ability to give good advice and clearly explain solutions. She does this in French, leaving the queries in English to me.

Since I am already active in a few Facebook groups and my website is my main showcase, I did not feel I needed such a page. On the other hand, it will no doubt benefit her. I do not have the time to monitor this forum and so far, it has been fairly quiet. Sarah is still figuring out how to handle this new task, being quite busy herself. I am sure it will be a great space for exchanges and hope it will pick up soon.

You are welcome to join:
https://www.facebook.com/rattachement

OFFICE CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS
The office will close for three weeks over the Christmas holidays, starting on Friday December 17th in the evening and reopening on the morning of Monday January 3rd. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. The service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. Of course, Sarah or I will honor prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a couple of other engagements.

I would like to remind everyone that there is no January issue.

Best regards,

QUESTION

FRENCH BANK CLOSES AN AMERICAN’S ACCOUNT

I’m writing to ask what you might know about French banks getting rid of American clients. My French bank is Milleis, before it was Barclays, and suddenly I received a letter saying I had 60 days to find a new bank. I called and found out that they are closing American-held bank accounts. I spoke with a friend and she said the same thing is happening with her at her bank.
After numerous phone calls and letters and emails, I finally spoke with someone who agreed to keep my account open until the end of the year. My Visa card was to expire at the end of September and she said that I would receive a new one before the end of the month. I did not.
My online account was blocked. I just spoke with someone who saw the note that my account is to remain open until the end of the year and she unblocked my account, but I have no access even to see the balance in my account. I have access to 6 months’ worth of monthly statements, but no access to the activity in my account or, as I have said, the balance.
Have you heard anything about this happening to anyone else?

QUESTION

AT THE PREFECTURE, EMPLOYEE AND SELF-EMPLOYED PROCEDURES ARE NEVER COMPATIBLE

I came to Paris in 2015 on a titre de séjour étudiant and completed my studies in 2019. At that time, I converted to a Recherche d’emploi/Création d’entreprise carte de séjour, which lasted one year and was not renewable and expired in November 2020.
Back against the wall, as I never got a job offer, I made a “plan B” appointment at the prefecture to change my status to entrepreneur/profession libérale. I had a business plan and I had registered with URSSAF as an auto-entrepreneur. The prefecture granted me one carte de séjour; I am still in shock that my request was approved.
At first, I did not make enough to pay rent. I withdrew money from my American accounts to support myself here while I looked for work. They wanted to see that I made at least the SMIC for the year in an account in France, so a girlfriend of mine got me a good waitress job that paid twice the SMIC.
A few days ago I was at the prefecture showing all the work I did. I saw an unhelpful woman at the guichet who told me to write in “Salarié” on the form, indicating my change of carte de séjour. I am concerned that this will interrupt my ability to do my freelance work. I wanted to add salarié, like my French boyfriend has done. I learned the other day that my future employer has since gone online to submit the 8-step form.
I have been in France for six years now, got my master’s here and have now, finally, found an employer. I want to work as an employee and I would like to have my business helping anglophones relocate here to Paris at the same time.
I am looking for any feedback, good or bad, about being able to keep both statuses.

Cloudy
The sky is gray and white and cloudy
Sometimes I think it’s hanging down on me
And it’s a hitchhike a hundred miles
I’m a rag-a-muffin child
Pointed finger-painted smile
I left my shadow waiting down the road for me a while
Cloudy
My thoughts are scattered and they’re cloudy
They have no borders, no boundaries
They echo and they swell
From Tolstoy to Tinker Bell
Down from Berkeley to Carmel
Got some pictures in my pocket and a lot of time to kill
Hey sunshine
I haven’t seen you in a long time
Why don’t you show your face and bend my mind? 
These clouds stick to the sky
Like a floating question, why? 
And they linger there to die
They don’t know where they are going
And, my friend, neither do I
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy.

“Cloudy” is the third track of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, the third studio album by Simon & Garfunkel, released on October 24th 1966.

Choosing such a title for a November issue while living in Paris is virtually a given. The weather here is cloudy nearly every day, and will be for months to come. Cloudy vision can mean an absence of clarity about what is going to happen. I believe the future of the USA and France can be seen as cloudy. Once again we are entering an era of uncertainty at the domestic level. Election campaigns have pretty much started in both countries, with high stakes and a lot of uncertainty. In France, almost all political commentators talk about labor and social unrest while President Macron pushes his agenda in hopes of being reelected on a track record of successes. He will certainly emphasize what he considers his success in fighting the COVID pandemic. Many think the majority of the French disapprove of his overall policies, and his record may not help him win the April presidential elections.

A total of 469 seats in the US Congress (34 Senate seats and all 435 House seats) are up for grabs on November 8th 2022. That is a year from now, but the elections are on many people’s minds now when it comes to votes on bills. To many, the next several months in the USA look cloudy. Is the country entering a major crisis, as both sides of aisle repeatedly claim? Each side looks at its own agenda and what should happen to fix the problems it sees, and how urgent it is to implement its policies.

I continue to deal with cloudy weather when I ride my bicycle, donning a poncho when it rains too much. After so many months of uncertainty and last-minute changes of policy, usually related to the pandemic, I believe we are getting used to uncertainty and making the best of things in our daily lives.

NEW RHYTHM OF WORK 
After two months of my new appointment policy, I finally have enough breathing space to better manage my email. Messages are almost always answered within five days. This still is not great, and I plan to improve it further. But I have a calmer life, which was absolutely needed. My next achievement should be starting to draft my column in mid-month to avoid the final week’s panic attack in the rush to get everything done. As I have often said, the pleasure of writing such a column is to craft it. This requires having time to get back to it a few times until it feels smooth and easy to read.

THE FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND THE HEALTH PASS REGULATION 
The first round of the 2022 French presidential election will be on April 10th 2022, with the runoff between the top two candidates on April 24th. Meanwhile, the regulation allowing the government to require the use of the health pass (passe sanitaire) could be extended to July 31st 2022. The government has emphasized that the regulation only offers the possibility of extending the requirement; it is far from certain that it will be needed so long. As in the USA, pressure is mounting for more and more people to be vaccinated and some people are losing their jobs for refusing.

The French administration has also established a procedure for issuing the health pass to people who were vaccinated outside France. Many of those affected complain that the procedure is too long and complicated. First you have to create an account on the www.demarches-simplifiees.frwebsite, then enter the specifics of your vaccination. The stories I have seen on Facebook vary greatly, so I cannot estimate how much time it takes or how easy it is. One thing is certain: the administration did not think beforehand about this being needed, and thus had to fix the situation rather urgently. For a while, it was known that several pharmacies in Paris could carry out the procedure. Now everything seems to be settled. www.demarches-simplifiees.fr/commencer/passe-sanitaire-francais-de-l-etranger.

MY TAIWANESE EXPERIENCE 
At the end of a business meeting, a couple of weeks ago, a client gave me a copy of the book he had recently published in the USA, with this inscription: “For Jean Taquet with great esteem. Note: To the keen observer who saw the Taiwan crisis years ago.”

I was surprised and deeply moved that this couple remembered so vividly our discussion at a Parisian café in early 2018 after leaving the rue Truffaut branch of the prefecture. I have never been good at small talk, so I spoke of my interest in geopolitics and particularly the politics of Taiwan, Japan and mainland China, which has lasted for some 20 years.

I remember with emotion where and when this interest started. On Monday, December 24th 2001, I held a free advice session, as I had done for the previous few months, at a soup kitchen near Belleville. The last person I saw had lost her immigration status earlier that year. She went back and forth between calling herself Chinese and saying she was from Taiwan. When I mentioned Taiwanese citizenship, she rebuked me. Then I suggested she had Chinese citizenship and she got even angrier. Nothing made sense. I thought I had some understanding of the situation after President Nixon changed US policy regarding China during his visit there on February 21st 1972. But I had totally failed to understand the situation of someone who clearly was going through serious hardship.

From that day on, I became seriously interested in the history of Formosa Island, from the large-scale Han Chinese migration to western Taiwan in the 17th century to the 1949 retreat to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek after Mao Zedong’s communist regime took power on the mainland. Then came the democratization of the political system, moving away from a dictatorship, with the second election of President Lee Teng-hui in 1996, as the final step in this process.

Having followed their presidential elections from then on, I saw the evolution of the Taiwanese population toward further independence while escaping from mainland China’s influence. Then it became inevitable that there would be a clash, given the aggressive international policy of Beijing. In March 2013, the Chinese Foreign Ministry published a four-page spread claiming Okinawa and the other islands in the Ryukyu chain were Chinese territories! I do not need to remind my readers that the US military has one of its largest bases on the island of Okinawa, which is part of Japan.

So the current crisis should not be underestimated, and it is clear the Chinese policy will not change and could end with a direct military confrontation with the USA.

STEPHEN HEINER’S NEW PROJECT 
Stephen started as a client and today we share several common interests. This is what he recently published on Facebook about his new project, which,

“.. started eight years ago as a way to document and share my move to Europe and as time went on it took on a life of its own.

“This week I’m excited to announce that The American in Paris Blog is no longer a one-man show but a team effort, building an on-the-ground database of information for those who want to build a life in France. If you want to learn more, click through to read the article.

“If you’d like to support Molli Sébrier and me as we grow this project, please give the FB and LI pages a like and follow when you have a moment!”

I fully support Stephen’s growing business and the diversification it induces. Interestingly enough, I have never seen it as competition. He has drawn a lot of attention as a helper for people who want to settle in France.

www.linkedin.com/company/taipblog/about

MORE AND MORE FAST-TRACK PROCEDURES WITH PARIS PREFECTURE
In my September issue, in the section titled NEWS ABOUT IMMIGRATION: ONE PAGE OF THE GOVERNMENT WEBSITE FITS ALL THE PROFESSIONAL CHANGES OF STATUS, I mentioned the move towards more and more professional carte de séjour procedures going through a dedicated website and the email address pp-dpg-6b-changement-de-statut@interieur.gouv.fr. I can now confirm that this process is complete for all types of status grounded in a professional activity.

Furthermore, the visiteur immigration status also has its own procedure, going through this website:https://administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr/particuliers/#/espace-personnel/connexion-inscription

There are several glitches, however: the system requires the applicant to create an account with an email address and password. It often happens that this kind of thing is done on the spur of the moment, but it gets quite complicated to go through the procedure necessary to recover your password should you ever have the misfortune to forget it! Having experienced this with a few clients, I advise you to make sure you make a note of this information. The website also requires an ephoto, a new kind of passport picture. The photo comes with an ID Nº that goes into the uploaded file. One can have this ephoto taken in most “Photomatons”, the self-serve photo booths found in public places including many metro stations in Paris. This means that the applicant must be physically in France to get this done …a complication for many people. The only benefit of the site is that you can submit all the documents needed. We will see if this simplifies the meeting at the prefecture to confirm the request.

MY BUSINESS HAS A NEW FACEBOOK PAGE
Over the holidays, my assistant, Sarah, took an interesting initiative and created a new Facebook page. It is a good move for her since she and I both moderate it. She can show off her expertise and her ability to give good advice and clearly explain solutions. She does this in French, leaving the queries in English to me.

Since I am already active in a few Facebook groups and my website is my main showcase, I did not feel I needed such a page. On the other hand, it will no doubt benefit her. I do not have the time to monitor this forum and so far, it has been fairly quiet. Sarah is still figuring out how to handle this new task, being quite busy herself. I am sure it will be a great space for exchanges and hope it will pick up soon.

You are welcome to join:
https://www.facebook.com/rattachement

OFFICE CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS
The office will close for three weeks over the Christmas holidays, starting on Friday December 17th in the evening and reopening on the morning of Monday January 3rd. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. The service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed. Of course, Sarah or I will honor prefecture meetings already scheduled, as well as a couple of other engagements.

Best regards,

QUESTION

HOW TO REGISTER WITH CPAM FOR HEALTH COVERAGE

I am an American holding a carte de séjour “visiteur” and I have a question about the application process for the Carte Vitale and the French social security number. Is there an order or scheme to follow to have everything in place? We have read various accounts of procedures but can’t quite put it all in perspective. Where do we start? I need to get on board ASAP with my present situation.

QUESTION

THE PARIS PREFECTURE PROCEDURE FOR SPOUSES OF EU CITIZENS

I am an American citizen and I had my titre de séjour convocation on October 5th with my EU wife at the Parisian prefecture “en qualité de conjoint d’un citoyen de l’UE”. The location mentioned on the document was on Rue Truffaut in the 17th district.
We arrived with all of our documents and translations, etc., and were told that “we only assist foreigners from Morocco, Algeria, etc.” We were turned away and told that we needed to get another appointment, which they created for us, for December at the prefecture in Place Louis Lépine.
I believe we were rejected at our original appointment for the wrong reasons, and that there was no reason why they were not able to help us.
We followed all the guidance and links online and booked at the correct prefecture for where we live (8ème). It led us to Rue Truffaut and they told us they could not help us because I am an American citizen and not from northern Africa.
Can you explain what our next course of action should be?

QUESTION

RENTING AN APARTMENT IN PARIS

We are an American couple and we are experiencing great difficulties in renting an apartment in Paris, probably because of our employment status. We have ample means in the USA and even though we are both artists, our steady income can easily cover the rent on the apartment we are looking at. We think that we have an excellent profile even though we do not have a conventional employer. Is there a way for us to rent in Paris, outside the Airbnb market?

Dreamboat Annie was the band Heart’s first album. A reader challenged me to use this title for the September issue. Two ago, with the July 2019 issue, I faced a similar challenge with the title “Father and Son” by Cat Stevens.

Before going on vacation, I had a few ideas about what to write in order to rise to the challenge. Now the summer vacation is over for many, including for myself. During those weeks, I never thought about sailing a boat, being able to have that kind of leisure. When I thought of a boat, it was as a way to escape, especially to get away from continuing uncertainty. This summer was a time of good and bad news about COVID-19 in both the USA and France; on TV, the news programs managed to give both a few seconds apart. What is most unsettling for people is the uncertainty, not knowing what will happen or what to expect. Maybe this is the kind of dreamboat a lot of people think about. 
As the lyrics state:
Warm wind caress her, her lover it seems
Oh Annie, dreamboat Annie
Ship of dreams
Oh Annie, dreamboat Annie
Little ship of dreams

The song has nothing to do with an actual boat. It is about going away with a lover. Aside from what is happening in Afghanistan, the main preoccupation once again in many parts of the USA as well as in France is going back to school. This is what I wrote in my September 2020 issue titled School’s Out. It was the fifth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in 1972:
“The issue of whether to reopen schools was covered by the media every day in July. ……..

As is common these days, school reopening has become a binary issue: one side says it is completely safe and children do not get sick; the other side sees schools becoming centers of infection, propagating the virus throughout the community. Children, whether they become sick with COVID-19 or not, can pass it on to teachers and parents, and thus to the community at large. Students of all ages do indeed congregate, and classrooms make it difficult for them to stay away from each other.”

This applies almost perfectly to what is happening today, as if nothing has changed in one year. So many things have changed. To state some obvious, the USA has a new president and France is getting into the presidential election campaign things. In both countries, today, vaccination is readily available.

NAMING THINGS 
French language has a couple of words for a common type of mixed-race people: mulâtre and Eurasien(ne). This vocabulary might seem like a tiny detail of no consequence. The word mulâtre is first recorded in the French language in 1544. A related word exists in English. As Wikipedia notes:

“The English term and spelling mulatto is derived from the Spanish and Portuguese mulato. It was a common term in the Southeastern United States during the era of slavery. Some sources suggest that it may derive from the Portuguese word mula (from the Latin mūlus), meaning mule, the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey. The Real Academia Española traces its origin to mulo in the sense of hybridity; originally used to refer to any mixed-race person. The term is now generally considered outdated and offensive in non-Spanish and non-Portuguese speaking countries, and was considered offensive even in the 19th century.”

In 1858, France began founding colonies in Southeast Asia. French Indochina, at its peak, included Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The word Eurasien(ne) appeared at about that time. When writing this issue, I discovered that a similar word, which I had never before heard nor read, exists in English: “Eurasian.”,

In the most recent French census, at least 40% of respondents reported having at least one grandparent born as a foreigner. This indicates how much France continues to be a melting pot. France is experiencing racism on several levels. I could describe countless situations illustrating this problem. One small way to illustrate it is the story of the father of Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, a general in Napoleon’s army, was of mixed race. Wikipedia has this to say about him:

“Born in Saint-Domingue, Thomas-Alexandre was the son of Marquis Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a French nobleman, and Marie-Cessette Dumas, a slave of African descent. He was born into slavery because of his mother’s status, but his father took him to France in 1776 and had him educated. Slavery had been illegal in metropolitan France since 1315 and thus any slave would be freed de facto by being in France. His father helped him enter the French military.”

And in French Wikipedia:
“Mulâtre de Saint-Domingue, il est le premier général de l’armée française ayant des origines afro-antillaises. Il fit la campagne de Belgique, la guerre de Vendée (1793-1796), la guerre des Alpes, la campagne d’Italie (1796-1797) et la campagne d’Égypte (1798-1801).”

Today in French the word métis refers to mixed-race people in general. I have an interest in languages, and I find it interesting that in the USA there is no equivalent word to describe mixed-race people, even though there have been several different terms for African Americans in the past 60 years or so.

Having such a word would almost certainly not improve the situation, but does its absence reveal any differences between how race is regarded in France and the USA? Maybe to a few people. If there were an accepted word for people of mixed race, would it help the situation? Considering the growing number of mixed-race couples having children, it might be time to think about it, unless I misunderstand the issue.

THE NEW LOGO FOR MY PRACTICE 
Sometimes something good comes out of a bad accident. I moved to my new office near Nation almost five years ago, in mid-September 2016. At the time, my son gave me a stele he had carved all by himself. It has been in the courtyard near the entrance door of my office. This spring, it fell and about a third was shattered, making it impossible to repair.

My son had set aside a week or so in August to redesign the stele and make a new piece of art. After having drawn his motif, he worked in the courtyard for an entire week. He had noticed that in my previous issue, I expressed a desire that starting in September I would have a workload more compatible with my age. Now the new stele stands close to my office door, which should make it a strong reminder of this good resolution. Currently, I am managing to maintain somewhat stricter control over my schedule, which I have filled up to mid-October. My office has only been open for two weeks and I have kept my lunchtimes clear of meetings.

When Eric finished the stele, I published the picture of it on Facebook, where it got a lot of reaction. I also received an email about it from a client, who drew my attention to the word “kit” and recalled the idea of a military kit and the expression kit and caboodle. The email continued, “I liked the word ‘kit’. And I thought it was nice how the words were truncated to look nicer. Like Sur viv al kit made it poetic. I think it is truly a wonderful piece. And the part I am curious about is the flower, a certain kind of flower or an imaginary flower? Anyway, I thought the sculpture was great.

I answered:
“He has been following the evolution of my business as well as my desire to make those changes. So this sculpture illustrates or even symbolizes my future aspiration. Also, there is a lot of wordplay between French and English here. His first idea was to carve four feathers to symbolize writing as an author. Its translation in French isplume, which in French refers to a writing tool, often a fountain pen as well as a feather. So this sculpture evokes my desire in the future to write and maybe get published. As he was looking for inspiration, he saw the plants we have in the courtyard and they also look like leaves. In French, the translation isfeuille, the word for a sheet of paper. So this is another way to symbolize the desire to write more as well as my everlasting love of writing. As for the choice Eric made in how to write the name of the corporation, he used the small space below the sculpture and was forced to dismantle the words.”

https://www.facebook.com/jean.taquet

NEWS ABOUT IMMIGRATION: ONE PAGE OF THE GOVERNMENT WEBSITE FITS ALL THE PROFESSIONAL CHANGES OF STATUS
In the May 2021 issue, I detailed how the procedure had changed regarding immigration applications for getting a job as an employee. About two months after the new regulation went into effect, the immigration authorities decided to also put requests to become self-employed and obtain the passeport talent status on the same platform. I do not have enough of a track record with those procedures in the new system to say whether it is easier or harder to be approved, or whether the small number of initial documents requested is all that is needed or whether they will get back to you and ask for more. Here is how the procedure now goes:
1. Submit the request.
2. Get it approved and send the approval to a special email address: pp-dpg-6b-changement-de-statut@interieur.gouv.fr.

This is the site where you now carry out this procedure: https://administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr

CURRENT REGULATIONS ON THE FRENCH HEALTH PASS
I am almost afraid to write anything about this, as it feels that even with the vaccination program and the health pass, the regulations seem to change daily. That is an exaggeration, but it definitely feels that way.

I translated the guidelines the government issued in mid-August, on the various situations allowing one to obtain a pass sanitaire. I just hope some of it will still be pertinent when I send out this issue.

1. The first way to get the health pass is to be fully vaccinated. Vaccination is considered complete for those in one of the following situations:

• 7 days after the second injection for double injection vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca).
• 28 days after injection for a single injection vaccine (Johnson & Johnson, aka Janssen).
• 7 days after a single injection of vaccine for people who previously had COVID-19.

The certified vaccination certificate, or pass sanitaire, can be obtained by going to this site: https://attestation-vaccin.ameli.fr

Since May 27, all vaccinated people have been able to collect their vaccination certificate from this site. In addition, any healthcare professional can find a vaccination certificate and print it upon request.

2. Proof of a negative test result fewer than 72 hours old (or 48 hours for antigen tests in the context of trips to certain destinations, such as Corsica, French overseas communities and the European Union)

All RT-PCR, antigen tests and now self-tests under professional supervision generate proof as soon as the result is entered by healthcare staff in SI-DEP, the new système d’information de dépistage, or COVID screening information system. The test result can be printed immediately for antigen tests and self-tests, under supervision of health professionals, and can also be made available to the patient after an email and SMS notifies them to retrieve it from the SI-DEP portal.

The patient then imports the results to the TousAntiCovid app. You can either scan the QR code located on the paper or PDF document issued by SI-DEP to accompany the test result, or click on a link in the SI-DEP portal, which allows the test result to be imported directly into TousAntiCovid.

The time limits of 72 or 48 hours for test validity, depending on the type of test, are supposed to be strictly observed when, for example, one enters the site of an event requiring a health pass.

For trips to Corsica, overseas communities or EU countries, self-tests under professional supervision are not admissible. Only RT-PCR and/or antigen tests are accepted.

3. A positive result from a RT-PCR or antigen test, attesting to recovery from COVID-19, dated from at least 11 days and less than 6 months previously. Such results indicate a limited risk of reinfection with COVID-19.

The health pass has been used in France since June 9, 2021, and makes it possible to check the holder’s vaccination status, test result or the certificate of recovery.

Here is the website where I found this information: www.gouvernement.fr/pass-sanitaire-toutes-les-reponses-a-vos-questions.

MY BUSINESS HAS A NEW FACEBOOK PAGE
Over the holidays, my assistant, Sarah, took an interesting initiative and created a new Facebook page. It is a good move for her since she and I both moderate it. She can show off her expertise and her ability to give good advice and clearly explain solutions. She does this in French, leaving the queries in English to me.

Since I am already active in a few Facebook groups and my website is my main showcase, I did not feel I needed such a page. On the other hand, it will no doubt benefit her. I do not have the time to monitor this forum and so far, it has been fairly quiet. Sarah is still figuring out how to handle this new task, being quite busy herself. I am sure it will be a great space for exchange, and hope it will pick up in the near future.

You are welcome to join:
https://www.facebook.com/rattachement

Best regards,

QUESTION

HOW DOES MICRO SELF-EMPLOYED STATUS WORK?

A few months ago someone in Australia hired me in a very “casual” way, i.e. no contract, etc., to help her find and buy items and furniture to be sent to her in Australia. She offered to pay me €30 per hour, on an eight-hour-a-week basis. Instead, I chose to be a self-employed trader – a second-hand dealer in France. I pay for each purchase and then I resell them to her for a small profit.
The problem is that with my auto-entrepreneur status I can only report the total I charged and I cannot deduct the amount I spent. How can this be normal? I need a solution urgently, as I have some shopping for my employer and I want right now to deduct this from my taxes. For example, if she puts money in my account and I pay for the purchases with her money and I ask for the invoice in her name and not mine, I imagine that might work.

QUESTION

WHO PAYS THE TAXE D’HABITATION: THE TENANT OR THE LANDLORD?

I came to Paris in 2015 on a titre de séjour étudiant and completed my studies in 2019. At that time, I converted to a Recherche d’emploi/Création d’entreprise carte de séjour, which lasted one year and was not renewable and expired in November 2020.
Back against the wall, as I never got a job offer, I made a “plan B” appointment at the prefecture to change my status to entrepreneur/profession libérale. I had a business plan and I had registered with URSSAF as an auto-entrepreneur. The prefecture granted me one carte de séjour; I am still in shock that my request was approved.
At first, I did not make enough to pay rent. I withdrew money from my American accounts to support myself here while I looked for work. They wanted to see that I made at least the SMIC for the year in an account in France, so a girlfriend of mine got me a good waitress job that paid twice the SMIC.
A few days ago I was at the prefecture showing all the work I did. I saw an unhelpful woman at the guichet who told me to write in “Salarié” on the form, indicating my change of carte de séjour. I am concerned that this will interrupt my ability to do my freelance work. I wanted to add salarié, like my French boyfriend has done. I learned the other day that my future employer has since gone online to submit the 8-step form.
I have been in France for six years now, got my master’s here and have now, finally, found an employer. I want to work as an employee and I would like to have my business helping anglophones relocate here to Paris at the same time.
I am looking for any feedback, good or bad, about being able to keep both statuses.